Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 274

274

“They won’t figure out the secret of the seasoning anyway.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Does Mother know?”

“Huh? What are you talking about……”

Shin Myung-soon couldn’t immediately understand what Hyun-sung was saying.

Hyun-sung continued, “I’m asking if Mother knows the secret of the seasoning.”

“Ah, not yet……”

“See? How many bowls of ramen has Mother cooked so far? Yet she still doesn’t know. Do you think someone can figure out the secret just by taking a little bit of the seasoning and tasting it?”

Shin Myung-soon had no choice but to nod.

Hyun-sung was right. She had cooked thousands of bowls of ramen so far. Yet she still doesn’t know exactly what goes into the seasoning.

Shin Myung-soon smiled at Hyun-sung.

“You’re right, Mr. President. Taking a little bit of the seasoning won’t make a difference anyway.”

“Mr. Min might have thought it was possible, but it’s out of the question. The seasoning might look simple, but it contains more ingredients than you think.”

“I admit that. I felt it while tasting it myself. But I have one question.”

“What is it?”

Hyun-sung asked, looking at Shin Myung-soon.

Shin Myung-soon immediately opened her mouth. “About Mr. Min……”

“What about Mr. Min?”

“The coins and the ramen. Why did he take those? His goal was the seasoning from the beginning, wasn’t it?”

Shin Myung-soon couldn’t understand his actions. If his goal was the seasoning, she thought there was no reason to touch the coins or the ramen.

Moreover, she couldn’t understand why he took even the 10-won coins.

Hyun-sung continued, “It was a trick.”

“A trick?”

“Yes, if the seasoning hadn’t fallen on the floor, we wouldn’t have suspected Mr. Min. Moreover, when we found out that the coins and ramen were missing, didn’t we think it was a young student? Mr. Min was aiming for that from the beginning.”

“Ah, now that I hear it, that makes sense. What a sly person…… By the way, I wonder what Mr. Min’s expression is like right now.”

“I wonder too.”

The two began to wear bitter smiles as if they had made a promise.

At that moment.

“Hoo!”

A long sigh escaped from Min Doo-shik’s mouth.

He had been struggling for two hours since early this morning to find the secret of the seasoning he had brought last night.

Choi Min-sung, who was watching him, carefully asked, “Still can’t figure it out?”

“I know the rest, but I don’t know the sweetness and coolness I feel at the end.”

“Sweetness and coolness?”

“Yes, that’s the taste that brings out the spicy flavor. People don’t like it if it’s just spicy, but they look for the spicy flavor because of this taste.”

Min Doo-shik was frustrated.

He thought that if he had the seasoning, he would naturally be able to find its secret.

But now that he had obtained the seasoning, he couldn’t find the taste, so Min Doo-shik was just frustrated.

Choi Min-sung said, “Could the sweetness be sugar?”

“If it was sugar, I would have found it already. That sweetness is not artificial.”

“If it’s not artificial, does that mean it’s natural sweetness?”

“Yes, that’s it. But I don’t know what that natural sweetness is.”

Min Doo-shik covered his head with both hands as if he was frustrated.

Then Choi Min-sung slyly asked, “Didn’t you say you were in a restaurant for 10 years?”

“Well, that’s true, but……”

“But you don’t know the ingredients that give natural sweetness?”

“Are you trying to tease me? I’m already upset enough……”

There was a clear hint of annoyance in Min Doo-shik’s voice.

Then Choi Min-sung quietly said, watching his reaction, “I’m not teasing you, I’m just saying. Why are you getting angry at me?”

“How can I not be angry? I gave 100,000 won [approximately $75 USD] for the seasoning last time, and you brought me a fake.”

“Isn’t that because that woman was playing tricks in the middle?”

“Anyway, you were the one who took the lead in that matter, weren’t you? You were the one who said you needed the seasoning. Isn’t that right?”

Min Doo-shik became more and more annoyed as he thought about it.

As soon as he tasted the seasoning this morning, he realized that the seasoning from last time was fake.

So how could he not be annoyed? It wasn’t just a small amount, but a whopping 100,000 won.

Choi Min-sung said, “I was just doing it for the sake of the store back then, wasn’t I?”

“Anyway, the important thing is the result, isn’t it?”

“Still, can you ignore a person’s good intentions like this?”

“It’s not ignoring, it’s just frustrating. I’m angry because I think we were both fooled by that woman.”

Min Doo-shik’s annoyance reached his head.

How could he not be annoyed when he invested 100,000 won in fake seasoning?

Then Choi Min-sung said again, “Should I ask that woman to return the money?”

“What grounds do you have to ask for the money back?”

“Isn’t it obvious that the fake seasoning has been exposed? So we should ask for the money back.”

“Hyung [older brother/male friend], are you out of your mind?”

Min Doo-shik looked at Choi Min-sung as if he was pathetic.

Then Choi Min-sung looked at Min Doo-shik with a dumbfounded expression and said, “Why are you talking like that?”

“How can you say such a thing if you’re in your right mind?”

“Hey you……”

Choi Min-sung was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t speak.

Even though they have a special relationship as employer and employee, there is a clear age difference. It’s not just a year or two, but a whopping 15 years.

How can he act so rudely?

Then Min Doo-shik opened his mouth again. “Hyung, let me ask you just one thing.”

“What is it?”

“What grounds are you going to use to call that woman a fake?”

“Well, Mr. Min tasted it, didn’t he? So he found out it was fake, am I wrong?”

Choi Min-sung said confidently as if it was obvious.

Then Min Doo-shik looked at Choi Min-sung with a pathetic expression and continued, “Do you think that makes sense?”

“What doesn’t make sense? Mr. Min clearly tasted it, didn’t he? I don’t know why you keep saying strange things.”

“You really don’t know?”

Min Doo-shik looked at Choi Min-sung with an expression as if he was asking one last time.

Then Choi Min-sung made an expression as if he was frustrated and said, “I don’t know what you’re saying I don’t know. What am I supposed to not know?”

At Choi Min-sung’s answer, Min Doo-shik sighed briefly and immediately continued, “What are you going to say to that woman?”

“Well, of course, I have to tell her that the seasoning you gave me is fake.”

“What’s the basis for that?”

“Basis? We tasted it and the taste is different from the real one…… No, wait a minute……”

Choi Min-sung stopped talking and covered his mouth.

Then Min Doo-shik, who was next to him, looked at him with a pathetic look.

“Do you understand what I’m saying now?”

“So, if that happens, we’re revealing to that woman that we stole it. This doesn’t make sense……”

Choi Min-sung realized his mistake at that moment.

This doesn’t make sense.

The moment he says with his own mouth that the seasoning from last time was fake, Kim Ji-sook will ask what the basis is.

Then he can’t say the basis.

Because the moment he says the basis, he’s revealing that he stole the seasoning himself.

Choi Min-sung looked at Min Doo-shik and bowed his head.

“Mr. Min, I’m sorry. I was mistaken for a moment.”

“Are you finally coming to your senses?”

“I don’t know why I made such a mistake. I think I was so angry at what that woman did that I didn’t realize it……”

Choi Min-sung bowed his head repeatedly as if he was sorry.

Then Min Doo-shik said again, “Anyway, you have to be careful with your mouth. You shouldn’t bring up the seasoning even by mistake.”

“Okay. I will never bring up the seasoning again. By the way, I saw a police car going to that kid’s store earlier. I hope nothing’s wrong.”

“Of course not. Do you think I would have taken all the 10-won coins [worth a fraction of a cent] for nothing? The police will think that young students did it anyway. So you don’t have to worry about that part.”

Min Doo-shik shrugged his shoulders as if he had done something great.

Then Choi Min-sung nodded and made an expression as if he agreed with Min Doo-shik’s words.

“No matter how I think about it, Mr. Min, you did a good job. I don’t know how you came up with that idea at that moment.”

“That’s basic, isn’t it?”

“Anyway, when I see that, Mr. Min, your head is also brilliant.”

“Stop it. I’m getting embarrassed if you keep doing that.”

Min Doo-shik made an embarrassed expression, unlike the way he shrugged his shoulders a little while ago.

Then Choi Min-sung continued, “That’s right, what are you going to do with the seasoning in the future?”

“I think I have no choice but to do some more research.”

“So, for the time being, are you just going to do it as usual?”

“That’s why, I think……”

Min Doo-shik stopped talking in the middle.

Then Choi Min-sung immediately asked, “What are you talking about? Why are you stopping in the middle?”

“I think we should reduce the number of employees. No matter how I think about it, if we continue like this, something really bad will happen. I have to survive first, don’t I?”

“Reduce the number of employees……”

It was hard for Choi Min-sung to understand.

Of course, it’s true that business isn’t as good as it used to be. But that doesn’t mean it makes sense to reduce the number of employees right now.

Because it hasn’t even been a month since we hired the employees.

Choi Min-sung carefully opened his mouth. “That’s a bit……”

“No. There’s nothing more to think about. It’s only a loss for me if I drag it out day by day. I have to live first, don’t I?”

“Still, it hasn’t even been a month……”

“What does that matter? The boss fires them, that’s it. Isn’t that right?”

“……”

Choi Min-sung had nothing to say.

When Choi Min-sung didn’t say anything, Min Doo-shik asked again, “Why, am I wrong?”

“Huh? It’s not that……”

“I’ll take care of that problem, so Hyung just work hard on what you’re in charge of. Hand out flyers whenever you have time.”

“…… O, okay, I understand.”

Choi Min-sung got up from his seat and quietly went outside.

Min Doo-shik, left alone.

“I’m the boss, who’s going to say anything?”

Only Min Doo-shik’s voice echoed in the wide hall.

***

“Mother, hurry up.”

Kim Myung-shik was impatient.

The original hospital visit was still 10 days away. But he couldn’t bear to wait until then because he was so curious.

It was all because of Hyun-sung.

At first, he wondered what was going on because he was holding his mother’s hand and closing his eyes without saying anything. But after a while, strange words came out of his mouth.

“You’ve cut out a lot of your stomach?”

It was unbelievable.

But what was even more surprising was the next word.

“Bad guys have spread to your lungs and liver?”

Metastasis(轉移) [the spread of cancer from one part of the body to another].

Hyun-sung said the same words that the doctor had said. He did it just by holding his mother’s hand and concentrating.

Does this make sense?

But what was even more absurd was Hyun-sung’s next action.

Treatment.

Hyun-sung himself said that he would treat her. It was an unbelievable word, but there was nothing he could do in that situation. He had no choice but to watch the situation.

But something amazing happened.

Sweat started to break out on Hyun-sung’s body. After an hour and a half, he opened his eyes and opened his mouth.

“That’s it for today.”

According to his words, he had clearly treated her.

That’s why Kim Myung-shik is taking his mother, Oh Bok-ja, to the hospital now.

“What’s the rush?”

Oh Bok-ja asked Kim Myung-shik as she left the room.

Then Kim Myung-shik grabbed Oh Bok-ja’s hand and said, “Aren’t you curious, Mother?”

“Actually, I’m dying of curiosity too.”

“Let’s go and check it out quickly. What on earth happened……”

Kim Myung-shik took Oh Bok-ja’s hand, left the house, and headed to the hospital.